


The Ability To Process

by GhastlyType



Category: The Edge Of Sleep (Podcast)
Genre: ADHD/Autistic Dave, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apocalyptic Situation, Attempted Non-Consensual Surgery, Black Triangles, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study (Sorta), Crying, Dave Torres Needs A Hug, Drug Use, Elephants, Everyone Needs A Hug, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, His Special Interest Is Whales, Hospitals, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kidnapping, Kissing, Mild Gore, Other, Post-Episode: s01e04 Maniac and The Moobles Pt. I, Scars, Sleep Deprivation, Sortof, Spoilers, Survival, Swearing, TEOS Is So Good?, The Edge Of Sleep, Triggers, Whales, Writer Borderlines Canon?, parasomnia - Freeform, podcasts, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhastlyType/pseuds/GhastlyType
Summary: ”...he's losin' a lot of blood!"He is, isn't he? His chest was covered with sticky red blood, a hole just to the right of his very own heart. He could hear it beating fast and loud, as if he ran for a long time. There was blood on his legs too, a long cut from a pair of medical scissors being tossed in a tussle. He hyper-fixated on how the blood slid out of him, beads of red following invisible lines down his torso and calves. Hands gingerly felt his wound, causing him to grunt in pain; his head started to feel like it was stuffed full of hot white cotton.





	The Ability To Process

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, sorry for the short chapter! 
> 
> I forgot I was doing this and I had to finish it up cause it was about to get deleted.
> 
> I will update this story every other Tuesday (UCT), and I will also give my thoughts about the episodes that come out!
> 
> Enjoy.

His breathing was harsh, sputtering with effort as he took in as much air as he could. He could hear, yet he was deaf to the world. He listened as someone beat the hell out of the creep that hung over him; _**Mateo**_. The man flung himself towards him, near tearing off the restraints around his wrists. He could barely feel Mateo pull him into a hug, shouting for someone, Linda. His mind was going a hundred miles a minute, his eyes felt focused, yet everywhere at the same time. His hand brushed his friend's face, feeling his slight stubble and the little nick of a cut on his chin. 

"Mateo..? Mateo!"

"Hey Dave- Jesus Christ, what the fuck did he do!?"

Dave grunted and gasped, "Augh- he shot me-"

He could hear Linda's demanding tone mixing with static- _"Mateo!"_

"I got the fucker but you need to come down here right now! Dave's been shot, it's bad, he's losin' a lot of blood!"

He is, isn't he? His chest was covered with sticky red blood, a hole just to the right of his very own heart. He could hear it beating fast and loud, as if he ran for a long time. There was blood on his legs too, a long cut from a pair of medical scissors being tossed in a tussle. He hyper-fixated on how the blood slid out of him, beads of red following invisible lines down his torso and calves. Hands gingerly felt his wound, causing him to grunt in pain; his head started to feel like it was stuffed full of hot white cotton.

Two people were talking to him, he just responded absently- his eyes blurred and he gave a little laugh at an old memory. He's gonna be alright. He's gotta be fucking tough. _He's gotta be fucking tough! **He's gotta be fucking tough!**_

The pain grounded him a bit, his mind focused on one thing- "H- Where's Katie?", his hand gripped Mateo's shirt sleeve, eyes pleading.

"Hey, she's alright! Don't try to get up!" He softly pushed Dave back down as the shorter man struggled to sit, "Breathe- _breathe_!"

His gasps turned into shutters as he maintained eye contact with his friend, his fellow guard, a man who helped him. He breathed out low and steady.

Dotted memories of his mother fluttered through his head as he smiled up at Linda and Mateo, he answered her questions, he could hear her asking his blood type- he answered as best he could as Mateo came back in- did he leave? Dave was so content thinking about checkers and cake and the taller man's calming eyes. "Hey... how you doin' man?"

"Awoh, you know- little leaky, but Linda's gonna patch me up... where'd you take him?"

Mateo gave a little scoff and a smile to accompany it, "I locked homeboy in the custodial closet."

"Is he secure?" Linda's brisk tone found it's way to his ears as she gathered materials to extract the bullet safely.

"I threw him on the ground and cuffed his legs and arms together- fucker isn't goin' anywhere! He really turned on the waterworks though; started cryin', snot drippin' on the floor!"

Dave stared at the ceiling, "Really?", his voice sounds so small.

"Yeah, man. He was so scared I thought he shit himself."

Dave was so caught up in the euphoria of talking to Mateo, he barely heard the door open with a light 'click'.

Then he heard her.

"Oh my god.. Dave."

Katie stood in the doorway, she looked tired and shaken; her eyes were red and hazy. There was a cast on her arm, it ran from her wrist to her elbow. She was so rundown, like a person who had seen Hell.

His voice barely reached her ears, "C'mere..."

She hugged him, blood soaking her shirt, fear filled all of them, shown heavily in her eyes. None of them had slept in two days, wounds littered their bodies and being together in a room filled the four with some sense of relief.

"Hh... Hi." Dave's cleaner hand held on to a wild look of brunette hair, "Hey.", was her reply.

"How's you day been?" His words were soft and tired.

She laughed, a happy but desperate sound, "Heha... fuck... what did he do to you..?"

"Awf, it's nothin'... I'm okay. I just, um," his breathing began to become wheezy and thin again, but he smiled, "I'm really happy to see you."

Linda snapped her gloves on, "Hey, Dave?"

"... yeah?"

"We should operate now."

The tray was wheeled over towards the table, and Linda leaned over him, surgical mask in place, hair held back by cloth.

He swallowed and nodded, "Okay. Yeah, I'm ready."

"Mateo?"

The taller man stood, "Yes?"

"I need you to see if the computers are running. If they are, pull up Dave's file and find his blood type. Then, I need you to run down to the freezer and bring me a two hundred and fifty milliliter blood bag that matches his blood type. Can you handle that?" 

"... you got it."

Mateo pat Katie's shoulder as he opened the door, looking sullenly at Dave, then leaving.

Katie looked at the nurse, "Is there anything I can do?"

Linda looked at her in turn, "Just... keep Dave company."

She sighed and grabbed a bowl of soapy water and a clean rag, "I am going to clean the wound."

She dipped the rag in the bowl and took it to Dave's chest, making the man groan and clench his fists tightly, "Shit!"

"Sorry," Linda said off handedly as she went over his chest with the rag a few more times, "Now, I'm gonna inject you with Lidocaine."

Tingling numbness set out throughout the wound, Dave looked up at Katie, "This isn't going to be easy... if you need to step out of the room I- I'd understand."

"I'm not going anywhere." Her eyes became more determined then scared as she looked right into Dave's eyes. She grabbed his hand and squeezed as Linda picked up the scalpel.

"You ready?"

"Ah, just fuckin' do it."

Linda lowered the scalpel carefully and made a deep incision from the bottom of his collarbone to the top of stomach, right over the wound. She made two parallel lines on the bottom and top, about two inches in length.

She carefully split the skin apart enough to get a good view of the gaping hole in his chest, just far down enough that the surgery wouldn’t affect the heart.

Linda winced as Dave’s body seized under her hands, “Just- Keep still, I’m going to remove it now.”

His breathing caught as her hand entered his chest, blood choking his throat as she gripped the bullet that lodged between his ribs-

“I got it!” She yelled, closing her hand around it-

and then he couldn’t hear a thing, couldn’t see a thing.

_Dave fell unconscious._

**Author's Note:**

> Oof- laaaate.
> 
> That season finale though, that was great! God I love this series and I can’t wait for season 2!! Ahaha!
> 
> Okay I’ll see y’all in a couple of weeks! Love ya - Ghast


End file.
